Wizarding Age: I can analyze everything

Chapter 77 Gu Lin's Bet

A heavy drinker!

Gu Lin's expression immediately turned solemn.

Pei Ze's gaze also narrowed slightly.

The Drunkard is roughly equivalent to a legendary knight who has mastered the earth element.

If she were to encounter a powerhouse of that level, she would have absolutely no ability to resist; she would be lucky to escape.

"With so many wizards and legendary knights working together, how could they still let a drinker escape?" Gu Lin frowned.

Fan He shook his head: "That heavy drinker happened to be away from the stronghold that night. It was only after the city guards interrogated the other prisoners that they found out about his existence."

Pei Ze and Gu Lin nodded in relief.

At that moment, a commotion broke out at the door, and the city guard officers, led by Yan Zhen, pushed the door open and walked in.

Huo Nan was among them.

His gaze swept across the crowd and met Pei Ze's eyes.

Pei Ze smiled slightly.

Huo Nan's eye twitched slightly, then he looked away expressionlessly.

After the officers took their positions, it was the same tall officer who explained the upcoming action plan to everyone.

The general content is similar to what Fan just said, only the details are more specific.

"All teams will be assigned patrol areas later, starting tomorrow night. Your task is to find and kill the heretics hiding in your assigned areas."

"In addition, if patrolling soldiers discover infidels and send out a distress signal, nearby teams should rush to their aid immediately."

"Then how are we supposed to find the heretics?" a wizard apprentice asked, raising his hand.

The tall officer was clearly prepared for this question. He took out an item from his pocket and showed it to everyone in his palm.

It was something that resembled a human index finger, but seemed to be completely dehydrated, with a wrinkled, grayish-white skin, and sharp nails at the tip.

"These are fingers taken from the demon followers. They have been crafted into temporary magical artifacts by the wizards. As long as you get within 500 meters of an Abep follower, you can sense their demonic aura. The effect can last for about a month."

Everyone relaxed.

With this item, finding heretics becomes much easier.

Despite the 500-meter limit, it's still better than wandering around aimlessly like a headless fly.

"We will distribute one item to each team later." The tall officer retracted his fingers and said in a deep voice, "In addition, according to our intelligence, there is a drinker among the heretics. If anyone discovers the drinker's presence, please issue a warning immediately and stall him as much as possible until reinforcements arrive."

These words immediately sparked a buzz of discussion among the crowd.

Many wizarding apprentices frowned.

The drinkers are legendary knights; how could they possibly contend with them?

If you were to encounter one, you wouldn't even have time to run away!

Many wizarding apprentices secretly resolved that if they ever encountered a heavy drinker, they would turn around and run away without saying a word.

They're here to earn merit points, not to risk their lives.

The tall military officer clearly understood this as well. He took in the crowd's reactions without saying anything. Only after the murmurs subsided did he raise his voice and announce, "Then let's begin assigning patrol areas."

Because the scope has been expanded to the entire northern district of the outer city, each team is now responsible for an area that is more than ten or twenty times larger than before.

It would take at least half a month to thoroughly search the entire area.

After that, each wizard apprentice received a piece of the demon apprentice's finger.

Pei Ze was no exception; what he received was just a thumb fragment, which felt like holding a cold, hard stone in his palm.

Upon leaving the command center, Fan He was the first to take his leave.

Watching Fan He leave, Gu Lin suddenly smiled and said, "Pei Ze, let's have a competition this time and see who gets more merit points, how about it?"

Pei Ze glanced at her and asked, "What's the stake?"

Gu Lin's eyes darted around, and he held up two fingers: "Twenty magic stone coins, how about that?"

Pei Ze raised an eyebrow. Twenty magic stone coins were enough to buy a faint-light level magic item. Was Gu Lin really that confident?

Perhaps they have other, more effective means of searching for heretics?

Pei Ze's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled and said, "How about this, if you win, I'll give you twenty magic stone coins, and if I win, you'll teach me gem magic."

"That's impossible!"

Gu Lin refused without even thinking, and rolled her eyes at Pei Ze.

"Gem magic is the core heritage of our family, and it will never be passed on to outsiders, unless..."

Halfway through his sentence, Gu Lin suddenly stopped, glanced at Pei Ze, his face flushed almost imperceptibly, and snorted, "Anyway, it's impossible, and I'd be at a huge disadvantage with this bet."

Pei Ze knew Gu Lin wouldn't agree, so he didn't care and said with a smile, "How about this, if I win, you'll teach me about gem enchanting, okay?"

Gu Lin paused for a moment, thought for a few seconds, and nodded in agreement.

"it is good."

Gem enchanting is a branch of enchanting, and it's not knowledge unique to the Gu family; it's just that it's relatively rare.

Compared to twenty magic stone coins, its value isn't much higher.

Anyway, she was confident she could beat Pei Ze.

"Then it's settled." A sly glint flashed in Gu Lin's eyes.

Pei Ze gave a half-smile and said, "Then you'd better work harder, don't end up like this time."

Gu Lin raised his chin slightly, saying confidently, "Just you wait and see. Unless you take down a Drinker, I'm guaranteed to win this match!"

After saying that, the girl turned and left with light steps.

Watching her retreating figure, Pei Ze smiled.

He could certainly see that Gu Lin had his own trump card, but wasn't he the same way?

Looking down at the demonic fingers in his palm, Pei Ze silently recited in his mind:

"Omniscient, analyze the spells attached to it."

[Task created, initiating analysis of the attached spell, estimated time 5 days 12 hours]

Pei Ze decisively used his mental energy to accelerate, instantly completing the analysis.

A flood of information rushed into his mind, and in no time, Pei Ze understood the principles and effects of the spell.

Simply put, this is a detection spell similar to detecting undead.

However, its detection range is far less than the former, and it is only effective against heretics who are tainted with Abep's aura.

Moreover, this spell requires a certain part of the demon disciple's body to act as a medium in order to take effect.

This also results in the spell having extremely limited effectiveness.

It is obvious that this is a spell that a wizard created temporarily for the current situation.

This operation is probably the only timeframe in which it can be applied.

Once the operation is over, this spell will become useless.

Aside from a few wizarding apprentices who might be interested in magical research, most others probably wouldn't even give it a second glance.

However, precisely because of this, the principle and structure of this spell are not complicated, far less so than a first-level spell, and only slightly more complicated than a zero-level spell.

If they could get their hands on the complete spell model, the All-Seeing Eye could probably analyze it in a day.

It only takes five days to analyze from scratch.

"Omniscient, without damaging the object, improve the attachment spell to enhance its detection effect," Pei Ze ordered.

[Quest created to enhance the effects of magical items; estimated time: 12 days]

Without saying a word, Pei Ze once again used his mental energy to accelerate.

In an instant, a flood of information surged into his mind, which was the improvement plan for the Demon Disciple's Finger.

Pei Ze read it carefully and nodded secretly.

According to the plan, the improved Demon Finger detection range will be increased to a radius of one kilometer, and it will also have the function of detecting the strength of demonic aura.

In this way, the strength of the target can be roughly judged based on the strength of the demonic aura.

The improvement in effectiveness is significant.

"Unfortunately, I know nothing about enchanting. If I want to modify the Demon Apprentice's fingers, I'll have to find a professional enchanter."

This isn't a big problem.

Most shops selling magical items in Dawn City also offer custom enchanting services.

Modifying a demon's finger isn't a big deal; it's not even as difficult as crafting an alchemy-grade item. You can do it at any shop.

However, after thinking for a moment, Pei Ze finally decided to go to the black market.

After all, the Demon Disciple's fingers are quite sensitive. If someone with ulterior motives were to discover that he had developed a solution to improve the Demon Disciple's fingers in less than a day, it might cause unnecessary trouble.

Just in case, it's best to go to the black market undetected.

It just so happens that the black market is open tonight.

"I wonder how Gu Lin's trump card compares to my modified Demon Disciple Finger?" Pei Ze pondered to himself.

Twenty magic stone coins are not a large sum for him now; he can easily earn it back by selling a batch of potions.

On the contrary, knowledge of enchanting is much harder to acquire.

In terms of pharmacology, the logistics department at least sells formulas for various non-ranked potions.

In terms of enchanting, aside from basic academic knowledge, there are only some crafting methods for items that don't even qualify as alchemy-grade magical items—such as how to solidify a defilement spell on an apprentice's robe.

To learn true enchanting knowledge, one must apprentice under an enchanter.

However, Pei Ze had already become Mo Weng's student, so this path was naturally not feasible, and he had to think of another way.

In fact, even before today, he had considered getting enchanting knowledge from Gu Lin.

Gu Lin's initiative to propose the bet this time actually gave him an opportunity.

"I have to win this bet no matter what!"

Pei Ze secretly made up his mind.

Mastering a new way to make money is secondary; more importantly, enchanting also plays a huge role in improving combat power.

As far as he knew, magical tattoos and elemental runes in the enchanting branch could instantly enhance a wizard's combat power.

Putting everything else aside, he absolutely must master these two areas of knowledge!

Night falls.

The deep darkness of night enveloped the entire base.

After the raid on the stronghold came to an end, the control over the base was relaxed considerably, and the wizard apprentices were now free to come and go.

In the early hours of the morning, Pei Ze quietly left his residence and headed towards a bar on the edge of the North District.

He was initially worried that the black market might not have opened due to the recent actions, but when he got there, he realized that he had worried too much.

The underground black market was as bustling as ever, with people coming and going without any sign of quietness.

"It seems the black market has powerful backers."

Pei Ze adjusted his hat brim and quickened his pace toward the shop.

As the largest shop selling magical items on the black market, it naturally offers enchanting services.

With the gold coins paving the way, the bald shopkeeper readily agreed to Pei Ze's enchanting request, not mentioning a word about the origin of the Demon Disciple's Finger, only asking him to wait a moment before taking the Demon Disciple's Finger and the spell model Pei Ze had drawn in advance into the back room.

Pei Ze found a chair, sat down, and waited patiently.

About half an hour later, the bald shop owner came out of the room and handed the demon's finger back to him.

Are you satisfied with this?

Pei Ze took the demon disciple's finger and, under the guise of examining it, secretly used his All-Knowing Eye to check it over. The result satisfied him greatly.

The improved results are almost identical to the analysis results of the All-Knowing Eye.

That's already pretty good.

After all, even if an enchanting master were to do it, it would be impossible to modify the Demon Disciple's finger to be exactly the same as the final design of the All-Knowing Eye.

Human resources are ultimately limited; no matter how exquisite or meticulous the work is, it can never compare to cheating.

This includes Pei Ze.

Therefore, even though the All-Seeing Eye provides the best solution and monitors and reminds him throughout the process of refining potions, he still cannot achieve a 100% success rate.

Suppressing his distracting thoughts, Pei Ze praised the enchanter's skills a few times before leaving the shop amidst the bald shopkeeper's beaming farewell.

After that, he wandered around the black market again, but unfortunately he didn't find much.

At Pei Ze's current level, the things he needs are often extremely precious.

For example, magical items need to be at least at the luminous level to pique his interest, and even then, it's just interest.

What would make him envious would have to be at least a magical artifact.

As for potions, only second-tier potions like the Illusion Potion could make him go to great lengths to obtain them.

Both magical artifacts and second-tier potions are rare items on the black market. They are either displayed as the prized possessions of a shop and not for sale, or they are bought up immediately upon appearance, leaving no chance for Pei Ze to snag a bargain.

After wandering around, he only managed to snag a few materials using his all-knowing eye, which was better than nothing.

Shaking his head in disinterest, Pei Ze turned and left the black market, returning to the city guard's garrison.

Now we just have to wait for the sweeping operation to begin tomorrow.

Even if you can't earn enough merit points to exchange for a spot in the Realm of Truth, winning the bet with Gu Lin and getting the knowledge of gem enchanting is still pretty good.

The next morning.

As soon as Pei Ze stepped out, he saw Su Ya and Peng Yan standing at the door, fully armed and waiting.

"Sir!" the two greeted at the same time.

Pei Ze nodded slightly and stepped outside.

"Let's go."

Su Ya and Peng Yan quickly followed.

To facilitate patrols, the city guards provided each team with a horse-drawn carriage.

The carriage walls on both sides are engraved with protective magic arrays. When attacked from the outside, they will release a shield with a defensive power equivalent to a mage's armor, giving the people inside the carriage time to fight back.

Furthermore, the horses pulling the carriage were not common horses, but a type of captive-bred ferocious beast called the black-horned horse.

It is larger and more robust than ordinary horses, with a jet-black body and a single horn pointing diagonally towards the sky.

Judging from its appearance alone, it is quite similar to the legendary Nightmare.

The coachman arranged by the city guards was a Dilo barbarian. Upon seeing Pei Ze and his companions arrive, he immediately put on a fawning smile, jumped off the carriage, and eagerly opened the carriage door.

"Sir, please."

Pei Ze nodded slightly to him and boarded the carriage.

The coachman immediately looked flattered.

The city of Dawn is home to a large number of barbarians, with a million in the outer city alone.

Except for a very few who made great contributions and were granted citizenship, the vast majority of barbarians were just commoners or slaves.

Slaves had the lowest status and mostly lived in mining areas or plantations outside the city.

Commoners had a slightly higher status, but they were still divided into different classes.

The highest-ranking among them either served as servants to a wizard or a wizard's apprentice, or as guards to wealthy people.

Those of low social status, like him, can only find a low-paying but stable job in the city.

Dawn City has a strict class system, and its citizens naturally feel superior to commoners and slaves.

The citizens he encountered on a daily basis treated him coldly and ignored him.

Not to mention that wizard apprentices, an elite class among citizens, were seeing such a kind wizard apprentice for the first time.

Su Ya didn't even glance at the coachman before boarding the carriage.

Peng Yan smiled憨厚ly at the driver and got into the car as well.

He has half barbarian blood, so he is more friendly to barbarians than to others.

The interior of the carriage is very spacious, easily accommodating three people.

After sitting down, Pei Ze instructed, "Let's set off."

"Yes, sir!"

The coachman respectfully responded, nimbly climbed into the front cabin, and lashed the black wildebeest with his whip.

With a neigh, the black wildebeest trotted out, pulling the cart swiftly out of the camp.

Inside the carriage, Su Ya took out a map and placed it on the seat.

"My lord, this is the map of the northern outer city that I obtained from the city guards as you instructed."

Pei Ze nodded, his gaze falling on the map, where Su Ya had already marked their team's patrol area.

"Sir, where should we begin our patrol?" Peng Yan asked in a deep voice.

Pei Ze had already made up his mind, pointing to the nearest block and saying, "Let's start from here."

There's no really good way to search for heretics; it's basically just a thorough, exhaustive search.

Although it takes time and effort, it is simple and effective.

Simply scan each block according to the sensing radius of the demon's finger.

Of course, considering that the heretics might change their hiding place along the way, it will probably take more than one sweep.

After hearing Pei Ze's words, Su Ya and Peng Yan nodded in agreement, looking eager to try.

During their previous garrison duty, the two of them made a fortune following Pei Ze, exchanging for a considerable amount of valuable resources. They were now full of energy and couldn't wait to storm the heretics' hideout.

Before long, the carriage entered the squad's patrol area.

Pei Ze took out the Demon Disciple's finger, held it in his right palm, and then leaned back in his seat to close his eyes and rest.

The carriage swayed gently, and the creaking of the wheels and bursts of noise filled the air.

This is the time when the outer city begins to bustle, with traffic and people flowing everywhere on the streets.

The sounds of vendors hawking their wares, students laughing and joking, and newsboys shouting mingled together and drifted into the carriage through the open windows.

Su Ya glanced at Pei Ze, who was resting with his eyes closed, and stood up to close the window, but was stopped by Pei Ze, who suddenly opened his eyes.

"Turn left," Pei Ze said in a deep voice.

The coachman outside immediately responded and quickly steered the carriage to turn left onto the street.

Su Ya and Peng Yan were stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening and their eyes lit up.

Peng Yan asked excitedly, "Sir, have we discovered any heretics?"

Pei Ze narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded.

Just now, the demon's fingers in his palm suddenly sensed something. He hadn't expected to discover heretics so soon after entering the patrol area.

After confirming that there were heretics nearby, Su Ya and Peng Yan immediately rubbed their hands together, ready to take action at any moment.

As the carriage moved forward, the two men gradually became puzzled.

Isn't the range of the Demon Disciple's finger supposed to be 500 meters?

But they had already walked more than 500 meters.

What happened?

The two looked at Pei Ze, and seeing that he was calm and composed, they had no choice but to suppress their doubts and wait patiently.

After a moment, Pei Ze finally spoke.

Stop.

The carriage stopped immediately.

Suya looked out the window and saw a three-story red-roofed building.

Looking around, the clean gray streets are lined with rows of black streetlights, and most of the buildings along the road are ordinary cement buildings, with the occasional white stone house.

Clearly, this is a residential area.

Su Ya frowned slightly, feeling that things were getting a bit tricky.

If a battle were to break out here, it could easily affect ordinary civilians.

Pei Ze gently patted his robe and said calmly, "Get out of the carriage."

Without waiting for Su Ya and Peng Yan's response, he stepped off the carriage.

Seeing this, Su Ya stopped thinking about it and quickly got out of the car with Peng Yan.

To their surprise, after getting off the carriage, Pei Ze stood quietly in front of it without making any move.

Su Ya and Peng Yan exchanged a glance, both completely bewildered.

After a while, Su Ya finally couldn't hold back and asked, "My lord."

The words had barely left his mouth when he was interrupted by a short, painful scream.

The sound clearly came from that red-roofed building.

Su Ya tensed up reflexively, gripped the hilt of her sword at her waist, and looked warily at the building.

To her astonishment, two more short screams followed immediately from inside the building.

"What happened?"

Just as Su Ya and Peng Yan were filled with doubt and uncertainty, they saw a flock of crows fly out of the windows on the top floor of the building one after another, their claws working together to grab three corpses.

Judging from the skin color of the corpse, it was undoubtedly a follower of Abep.

"!!!"

Su Ya and Peng Yan exchanged glances, and recalling the crow pet's ability to transform into mist that they had seen that night, they suddenly realized what was going on.

It turns out that Lord Pei Ze had already sent his demonic pets to infiltrate the building silently. Taking advantage of the fact that the heretics inside were distracted by the three of them, he launched a surprise attack and swiftly eliminated the three heretics.

After understanding this, Su Ya and Peng Yan couldn't help but admire him secretly.

Lord Pei Ze's methods are truly superb!

"Three demonized individuals are only worth 5 merit points."

After absorbing the soul energy with the recording ring, Pei Ze left the corpse on the spot and turned back into the carriage.

As for the body, the city guards will come and deal with it later.

"Let's go, continue the search."

After verifying the effectiveness of the improved Demon Disciple Finger, Pei Ze's confidence increased greatly.

The successful start has further fueled Su Ya and Peng Yan's enthusiasm.

The three continued their patrol.

(End of this chapter)